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Merchandife? Thefe Things feal away his Thoughts, and for that Reafon Covetoufness is (by St. Paul) termed Idolatry, Col. iii. 5. Here therefore efpecially muft we practise that Advice of our Bleffed Saviour: Take no Thought, faying, What fhall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal fhall we be clothed: (For after all thefe Things do the Gentiles feek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all thefe Things:) But feek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all thefe Things fhall be added unto you, Mat. vi. 31, &c.

Whenever therefore thou fetteft about the Duty of Prayer, Meditation, or any other holy Duty, either in private or publick, be fure to fhut out all covetous, fenfual and worldly Thoughts. Let not thy Mind hanker after thofe Flefb-pots, when thou art going into Canaan, and to have fome Profpect, though not to take Poffeffion, of the promis'd Land. This is the way to have thy Mind fix'd and intent, and by that means better'd and edified. This is the Myftical Meaning of that Action of our Saviour, viz. His whipping the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple, Jaying, My Houfe fhall be called the House of Prayye bave made it a Den of Thieves. Mat, xxi. 12, 13. &c. 'Twas to mew that when

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when we come into the House of God, to worship the Eternal Majefty, and in all other holy Duties, we fhould abhor all fuch profane Mixtures, as Covetousness, and Worldly-mindedness, which are the Tables of the Money-changers, and the Seats of them that fold Doves; and altogether unfuitable to those holy Performances we are about. We must therefore take our leave of all worldly, covetous, or anxious Thoughts; otherwife our Minds muft unavoidably wander, when like that of Martha, They are cumbred about many Things, Luke x. 40. All the Cares of the World must be banished from our Hearts. Even prudent and honeft Care is unfeasonable here, and nothing but this one Thing neceffary must be minded. As for all worldly Thoughts, or terrestrial Imaginations, we must shake off the very Duft of them from our Feet. We must in our Devotions foar fo high, as to be out of Reach of the fatal Magnetifm of Earth. This muft we endeavour to do, if we would avoid this kind of evil Thoughts,. viz. wandring Thoughts in holy Duties..

VII. Again: In the next Place theremust not be the leaft Grain of Ambition, or Vain-glory, in any of our Performances; for that will carry away our Thoughts and Imaginations after a thousand vain, F 5

and

and foolish Objects. The approving ourfelves to an Omniscient God, must be our fole End in all holy Duties. And the only Reafon of our being pleas'd with our beft, and moft excelling Performances, (if fuch finful ones can any of them be called fo) fhould be that they the more tend to the Glory of God; left we lofe all the Reward of them, and incur that juft opprobrium of our Saviour's Wo on the Scribes and Pharifees: When thou prayeft thou shalt not be as the Hypocrites are: For they love to pray standing in the Synagogues, and in the Corners of the Streets, that they may be feen of Men: Verily I fay unto you, they have their Reward, Mat. vi. 5.

To thefe Rules and Directions, in order to the avoiding wandring Thoughts, may be added, A careful Obfervance of all the the Duties of the Lord's-Day: A minding the Things of this World (when they ought to be minded) with Indifference, and a Truft in the over-ruling Providence of God. That we be more and more humble and repenting.

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That there remain no Sin unmortified in

A devout and earnest Praying to be delivered from them, that fo we may ferve God without Distraction, in Imitation of the Bleffed in Heaven, &c. Thefe

These are the Principal Rules that I could difcover, in order to the avoiding vain and wandring Thoughts in the Worfhip of God: Which are oftentimes an unfpeakable Affliction to Good Chriftians, and which 'tis no fmall Difficulty to pre

vent.

But if after the Ufe of thefe Directions, which I have laid down, and all that we can do, we cannot be, rid of them, but they will still haunt and disturb us, yet we must perfift in our Duty. Tho' they fhould come very thick upon us, yet we muft not be difcouraged from our Duty: For leaving that undone is (I am fure) far from being a Remedy against them; and gives the Devil a greater Advantage over us than we are aware. We must therefore continue in our Duty, tho' it be with an heavy Heart: And then we shall retain the Virtue, tho' we lofe the prefent Satisfaction of our Obedience. God fees the Sincerity of our Hearts, and will af furedly reward us at the laft. Although the Devil (who hath a great Hand in thefe Thoughts alfo, as we find in the Parable of the Sower, Mat. xiii.) doth continually vex, and trouble us with them; yet let us wait upon God with Patience, and an humble Obfervance of these Rules laid down, as far as we are able: And

then:

then we shall be in no Danger by Reafon of fuch Thoughts, tho' we fhould be grappling, and fighting with them, as long as we live. "Tis impoffible (I think) that we should be totally freed from them in this fluid Medium; in this state of Frailty and Corruption; that the Mind fhould be quite cleanfed of these Annoyances. But yet we are to confider that our Life is a continual Warfare; and our Condition here a State of Imperfection And that therefore we are not to defpair, as if we had done no Good, because we have not attain'd to what this Life cannot afford.

But to comfort ourselves with this, viz. that if in Obedience to God's Commands, we maintain the Combat, and fight against them, and ufe fuch Remedies as are prefcrib'd, God will accept of our Endeavours, pass by our Infirmities, and grant us at lait a Compleat Victory in Heaven above, which alone is Confummation : Where we shall be free from bodily Weakneffes (which many times greatly adminifter to fuch, and indeed I think to moft other Evil Thoughts) and from all the Feebleneffes and Impotencies of the Mind: From all vain and enticing Objects from without; and from all the Treachery of Corruption from within:

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